Tongue depressor and mirror therefor



Sept- 29, 1953 w. T. CANAN ,5

TONGUE DEPRESSER AND MIRROR THEREFOR Filed Dec. 9, 1949 2 x w w; ///1 IIN V EN TOR. 741. TE R T. CANAN BQQM A T TORNEY Patented Sept. 29, 1953TONGUE DEPRESSOB AND MIRROR; THEREEQR Walter '1 Oman, PasadenaQCaHf.

Application December 9, 1949; SerhkNo. 11am;

This invention is concerned; with tongue depressers for medical, dentaland household use and provides a rugged, simple device which is muchmore useful than the conventional tongue depr sser.

Tongue depressers are employed to hol the tq flgue or the lips out oftheline of vision during inspections of the mouth. The ordinary tongue deprss r s simples: nat stics rounded at one or hothends. HQwere there arefrequent oc sions in which a satisfactory inspection of the mouth cannotbe made because the view is still obstructed after the tongue or thelips have been moved as far as possible. My invention provides a tonguedepresser in the form of an elongated substantially flat strip roundedon at least one end and provided with a mirror on one or both ends toaid in inspection.

The tongue depresser of my invention is particularly useful for peoplewho wish to carry out an inspection of the mouth for themselves. Thusthe person making an inspection of his mouth stands in front of aconventional mirror, places the end of the tongue depresser carrying themirror inside the mouth and adjusts its position until he is able to seethe particular area in the mouth in which he is interested. The insertedportion of the tongue depresser is used to depress the tongue or holdthe lips out of the line of vision to the mirror.

The apparatus of my invention, in addition to being particularly usefulin the home also saves time for doctors and dentists, since a singletool serves a dual purpose and avoids the use of a separate mirror inmaking mouth inspections.

The tongue depresser of my invention may be made of any rigid materialbut I prefer to mold it from transparent plastic. The mirror may bedetachable or fixed, but preferably is fastened on the flat of thetongue depresser and countersunk, i. e. disposed in a recess, so thatits outer surface is substantially flush with the flat of the tonguedepresser.

I prefer to employ a mirror of the magnifying type so as to permit morecareful inspection. Magnifying mirrors are well understood in the artand are simply mirrors having a convex reflecting surface.

These and other aspects of my invention will be understood thoroughly inthe light of the following detailed description illustrated by theappended drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form of the tongue depresser of myinvention;

2 Claims. (Cl. 1281-15) 2; is a side dewation. nadir in ection. o thetensile epresser f H s. 1..

E 3 is a clan another: te m; f: the depresser f. my int ntion:

t. i. a. f a ment r longitudina seen elevation thr ugh ne: and; adepresser of ma invention showing; a tree. at ror de achab y in. a

F 51s a. raamentarr plan v of a tongue depresser of my invention still.amine manner QI mirro a d s- 6 Shows a novel dinerhqlsier mm for usewith the tongue depresser of the foregoing figures.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the tongue depresser comprises an elongatedflat strip III of plastic that is relatively thin with respect to itswidth and has parallel sides throughout most of its length. One end llof the depresser is spoon-shaped and wider than the shaft If. The twosides l3, H of this rounded enlarged end are bent upward slightly so asto make the depresser fit the tongue.

The other end of the tongue depresser is provided with a smallrectangular mirror l5 mounted in a recess in the flat of the strip sothat the upper surface of the mirror i flush with the adjoining stripsurface.

When the tongue depresser is employed in the mouths of both children andadults, it is desirable to provide mirrors on both ends. Such amodification is illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein a tongue depresser isshown in the form of an elongated fiat strip of transparent plastichaving one small rounded end I! and a larger rounded end l8 connected bya flat shank IS. A rounded mirror 20 of the magnifying type is fastenedflat on the approximate center of the large rounded end and anothermagnifying mirror II is fastened flat on the approximate center of thesmaller rounded end. Preferably, the two mirrors are recessed into thetongue depresser, so that the upper surfaces are flush with its uppersurface.

Fig. 4 illustrates a way in which the mirror can be detachably mountedin the tongue depresser. Thus, the end 22 of a tongue depresser made oftransparent plastic is provided with a flat recess in its end. The endwalls 23, 24 of this recess slope inward, i. e. the recess is formedwith reentrant angles. A mirror 25 of the translucent type is disposedin the recess. If it is desired to remove the mirror the tonguedepresser is flexed until its two inner walls 23, 24

a ct

have moved sufllciently to permit the withdrawal of the mirror.

The use of a translucent or double mirror is desirable in this casesince the plastic is transparent and permits the mirror to be seeneither through the transparent tongue depresser shank or directly.

Fig. shows another manner in which a mirror maybe mounted in the tonguedepresser. Thus a tongue depresser 26 generally similar to that of Fig.1 has a convex mirror 21 held in a ring 28. This ring is provided with ashank 29 on one side which is threaded into one end, i. e. the smallerend of the tongue depresser, so that the mirror is approximately in linewith the flat of the end.

To facilitate hanging the tongue depressers when they are not in use, Iprovide a holder (illustrated in Fig. 6) comprising a strip 40 of rigidmaterial, preferably transparent plastic, bent in the form of a U andhaving notches M, 42 on its upper edge near the ends. A hole through thestrip at the base of the U accommodates a screw 43 or other fasteningdevice, by which the holder is mounted on a vertical surface, say awall. The tongue depresser 44 is dropped into the notches with its bigend 45 up, and is held in position because the maximum width of the bigend is slightly greater than the spacing between notches.

The apparatus of the invention is rugged, simple and cheap tomanufacture and extremely convenient for use in the home.

I claim:

1. A tongue depresser comprising an elongated relatively fiat strip oftransparent material having a recess in the face thereof adjacent oneend, and a translucent mirror having opposite reflecting surfaceslocated in said recess so that an image formed by the mirror can be seeneither through the transparent strip or directly.

2. A tongue depresser comprising an elongated relatively flat strip ofresilient transparent material having a recess in a face thereofadjacent one end with two opposing walls of the recess sloping outwardlyfrom top to bottom, and a flat mirror having reflective surfaces onopposite face held in the recess, the arrangement being such that themirror can be released from the recess by flexing the strip.

WALTER T. CANAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 539,076 McNaughton May 14, 1895 828,393 Emerson Aug. 14, 1906886,746 Walter May 5, 1908 1,506,401 Young Aug. 26, 1924 2,525,181Ransdell Oct. 10, 1950 OTHER REFERENCES 1937 Catalog of StortzInstrument Co. of St. Louis, Mo., page 119. (Copy in Div. 55.)

